Which Indoor antenna is the best?

[Robert Macy]

Apologies for being off topic, but I thought people here may know the
answer to the question "Which indoor antenna is best?" Especially,
with the upcoming change to Digital Only

I'm not talking preference here, but conclusions based upon comparison
data.

Located in the Bay Area, downtown San Jose, CA, fourth Floor, I would
expect to receive quite few stations. True for analog, Not true for
Digital.

For example, right now I have two data points:
Terk unknown model with amplifier [bowtie on its side shape]
vs Radio Shack unknown model with amplifier [rabbit ears and an
adjustable fixed radius loop in the middle]
both have variable gain.

First checking with analog reception as the indicator.
1) Snow bad.
2) Excessive ghosts bad.
3) Fading will lose lock and give drop outs

Using just analog reception, the Terk won hands down, both in the VHF
and the UHF frequencies for the following example channels 2, 4, 5, 7,
20, 32, 54, 65 [there are others]

The RS antenna could barely, if at all, receive 2,4,5,gave
unacceptable performance Channel 7, 20, 32, 65. ok 54.
Whereas the Terk could give at least BW reception on 2, 4 color on 5,
acceptable ch 7, 20, and excellent quality viewing on 32, 54, 65.

Digital reception pretty much matched the analog reception using the
digital converter that was the highly rated inexpensive ?? big
buttons, can stand up on side.

For Digital, RS could only pick up Spanish stations and 54.1,2, the
antenna gave really poor performance.

Using the Terk quite a few digital stations come through, but their
constant drop out rate is very frustrating, since the sound track is
lost, usually at a critical point in the dialogue, and the screen goes
to a very distracting blank screen with redundant text information,
"loss of transmission" as if you couldn't tell.

It appears I'm located at a marginal spot in San Jose and if I could
just pick up a few more dB to capture the digital stations, I'd be
done. Thus, the question: which antenna of the myriad out there is
best? Should I get a multi-element outdoor antenna and mount it on a
post above the TV? Is that better than amplified single element?

Robert

 

[GregS]

Apologies for being off topic, but I thought people here may know the
answer to the question "Which indoor antenna is best?" Especially,
with the upcoming change to Digital Only

I'm not talking preference here, but conclusions based upon comparison
data.

Located in the Bay Area, downtown San Jose, CA, fourth Floor, I would
expect to receive quite few stations. True for analog, Not true for
Digital.

For example, right now I have two data points:
Terk unknown model with amplifier [bowtie on its side shape]
vs Radio Shack unknown model with amplifier [rabbit ears and an
adjustable fixed radius loop in the middle]
both have variable gain.

There is a lot more than that stuff. An indoor multielement is going to give more gain
and multipath rejection. It seems lower frequency channels may be
used in HDTV, and that requirs a large multielement outside antenna to
be most efficienct. if its only UHF than the smaller antennas will work,
and a multielement is going to be superior. Most any antenna need rotated
to get the best reception. There are no true all directional antennas except
vertical.

I bought a $5 RCA UHF VHF antenna at Dollar store and works
great for local 35 mile reception. Rabbit ears and loop for me.

I would like to snoop for long range some day.

greg

 

[[email protected]]

Apologies for being off topic, but I thought people here may know the
answer to the question "Which indoor antenna is best?" Especially,
with the upcoming change to Digital Only

I'm not talking preference here, but conclusions based upon comparison
data.

Located in the Bay Area, downtown San Jose, CA, fourth Floor, I would
expect to receive quite few stations. True for analog, Not true for
Digital.

For example, right now I have two data points:
Terk unknown model with amplifier [bowtie on its side shape]
vs Radio Shack unknown model with amplifier [rabbit ears and an
adjustable fixed radius loop in the middle]
both have variable gain.

First checking with analog reception as the indicator.
1) Snow bad.
2) Excessive ghosts bad.
3) Fading will lose lock and give drop outs

Using just analog reception, the Terk won hands down, both in the VHF
and the UHF frequencies for the following example channels 2, 4, 5, 7,
20, 32, 54, 65 [there are others]

The RS antenna could barely, if at all, receive 2,4,5,gave
unacceptable performance Channel 7, 20, 32, 65. ok 54.
Whereas the Terk could give at least BW reception on 2, 4 color on 5,
acceptable ch 7, 20, and excellent quality viewing on 32, 54, 65.

Digital reception pretty much matched the analog reception using the
digital converter that was the highly rated inexpensive ?? big
buttons, can stand up on side.

For Digital, RS could only pick up Spanish stations and 54.1,2, the
antenna gave really poor performance.

Using the Terk quite a few digital stations come through, but their
constant drop out rate is very frustrating, since the sound track is
lost, usually at a critical point in the dialogue, and the screen goes
to a very distracting blank screen with redundant text information,
"loss of transmission" as if you couldn't tell.

It appears I'm located at a marginal spot in San Jose and if I could
just pick up a few more dB to capture the digital stations, I'd be
done. Thus, the question: which antenna of the myriad out there is
best? Should I get a multi-element outdoor antenna and mount it on a
post above the TV? Is that better than amplified single element?

Robert

Go here: http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp
to find which direction(s) and what distances the stations are from
your location. It also offers a "type of antenna" suggestion.

If all the stations are in one direction, Radio Shack has a $35 UHF
antenna that is designed for outdoor use but can be placed in a closet
or behind a screen and pointed in the right direction.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088

I'm in Atlanta, GA, and currently get about 20 channels with this
antenna in the basement (yes, below ground level) but angled up
about15 degrees and pointed in the direction of most of the TV
broadcast towers.

John

 

[Robert Macy]

Apologies for being off topic, but I thought people here may know the
answer to the question "Which indoor antenna is best?"  Especially,
with the upcoming change to Digital Only

I'm not talking preference here, but conclusions based upon comparison
data.

Located in the Bay Area, downtown San Jose, CA, fourth Floor, I would
expect to receive quite few stations.  True for analog, Not true for
Digital.

For example, right now I have two data points:
Terk unknown model with amplifier [bowtie on its side shape]
vs Radio Shack unknown model with amplifier [rabbit ears and an
adjustable fixed radius loop in the middle]
 both have variable gain.

First checking with analog reception as the indicator.
1) Snow bad.
2) Excessive ghosts bad.
3) Fading will lose lock and give drop outs

Using just analog reception, the Terk won hands down, both in the VHF
and the UHF frequencies for the following example channels 2, 4, 5, 7,
20, 32, 54, 65 [there are others]

The RS antenna could barely, if at all, receive 2,4,5,gave
unacceptable performance Channel 7, 20, 32, 65.  ok 54.
Whereas the Terk could give at least BW reception on 2, 4 color on 5,
acceptable ch 7, 20, and excellent quality viewing on 32, 54, 65.

Digital reception pretty much matched the analog reception using the
digital converter that was the highly rated inexpensive ?? big
buttons, can stand up on side.

For Digital, RS could only pick up Spanish stations and 54.1,2, the
antenna gave really poor performance.

Using the Terk quite a few digital stations come through, but their
constant drop out rate is very frustrating, since the sound track is
lost, usually at a critical point in the dialogue, and the screen goes
to a very distracting blank screen with redundant text information,
"loss of transmission" as if you couldn't tell.

It appears I'm located at a marginal spot in San Jose and if I could
just pick up a few more dB to capture the digital stations, I'd be
done.  Thus, the question: which antenna of the myriad out there is
best?  Should I get a multi-element outdoor antenna and mount it on a
post above the TV?  Is that better than amplified single element?

Robert

Go here:http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp
to find which direction(s) and what distances the stations are from
your location.  It also offers a "type of antenna" suggestion.

If all the stations are in one direction, Radio Shack has a $35 UHF
antenna that is designed for outdoor use but can be placed in a closet
or behind a screen and pointed in the right direction.  http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088

I'm in Atlanta, GA, and currently get about 20 channels with this
antenna in the basement (yes, below ground level) but angled up
about15 degrees and pointed in the direction of most of the TV
broadcast towers.

John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I should have stressed:
OUTDOOR PLACEMENT OF ANTENNA IS NOT POSSIBLE.

Thank you for the site to show Stations. The list is better than the
one at ??.org

And thank you for providing the URL to the antenna. It looks like it
might have high enough gain to work. Plus, as I take back the
amplifier RS Antenna I can pick up this one!

Robert

 

[JeffM]

It's actually been discussed here several times.
Since you're **already** at Google
(instead of using a real Usenet newsreader),
you *could* have Googled it yourself.
http://groups.google.com/group/sci....TV+antenna+OR+antennas&qt_g=Search+this+group

[...]"Which indoor antenna is best?"
Especially, with the upcoming change to Digital Only

I'm not talking preference here,
but conclusions based upon comparison data.
[. . .]

I should have stressed:
OUTDOOR PLACEMENT OF ANTENNA IS NOT POSSIBLE.

You *may* be screwed.
http://groups.google.com/group/sci....z-zz+chicken-*+galvanized-*-*+water+qq+stucco

....and from further up that thread:
http://groups.google.com/group/sci....0e7aba01cfe0e5f?q=uhfhdtvantenna-*-*+avsforum

 

[Robert Macy]

It's actually been discussed here several times.
Since you're **already** at Google
(instead of using a real Usenet newsreader),
you *could* have Googled it yourself.http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/search?group=sc...

[...]"Which indoor antenna is best?"
Especially, with the upcoming change to Digital Only
I'm not talking preference here,
but conclusions based upon comparison data.
[. . .]

I should have stressed:
OUTDOOR PLACEMENT OF ANTENNA IS NOT POSSIBLE.

You *may* be screwed.http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_frm/thre...

...and from further up that thread:http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_frm/thre...

Thank you for the URL's

This search has taken place over several weeks including googling,
however I found very little 'useful' information, thus I asked here.

From your last URL, by far and above anything I found, was an
excellent article on constructing an 'attic antenna'.

Thanks again.

However, I am still concerned that the results from comparing my two
antennas are so different than several [and I mean several] lists
showing comparisons of those two antennas.

Robert

 

[Baron]

Robert Macy Inscribed thus:

However, I am still concerned that the results from comparing my two
antennas are so different than several [and I mean several] lists
showing comparisons of those two antennas.

Robert

As you have discovered playing about with the antenna you have is not an
exact science ! You can get totally different results from the same
antenna just by moving it a very short distance ! I have found, where
I live, that moving the antenna 2 feet forward gives a better signal
but moving it a foot to the side is even better.

Good luck with your experiments. Its worth it for a better TV picture.